001oh hi so goody is everyone ready yep okay good evening I'd like to call to order the school community meeting for tonight Monday April 6th and as we all know by now governor Baker had suspended suspended certain provisions of the old meeting law which is allowing us to connect to stuffed our meeting remotely in this way and members of the public can access this meeting via livestream WW youtube.com/ ford flash DHS TV media and in addition to that the meeting this meeting will be rebroadcast on DC TV channels 9 and 18 on Wednesday and Thursday at 5 o'clock Friday at 6 a.m. Saturday at 8 a.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. and just one that notice before we begin the public comment if anyone would like to comment on any of today's agenda items just
002email kathleen jenthor ka th l ET and g GN th n ER at dartmouth schools dot o-r-g please include your name with your comments so first on our agenda I would entertain a motion to approve the regular o Eveline Avril here Chris Oliver yeah Carol Paradis yeah Shannon Jenkins here John Nunes yeah okay so now I'll entertain a motion to approve them the minutes the regular session minutes from our meeting our last meeting March 23rd so moved second okay any discussion hearing none all in favor hi okay now I will entertain a motion to approve the executive session meetings from that same night March 23rd 2020 so moved madam chair with the stipulation that they be held until the matter for which they were intended is complete yes so madam chair I did got when
003I was looking through them today I did have a concern about one of the the sentences in there so just like to ask that we do hold the executive session minutes so I could just touch base with you and Kate on that okay so okay so we will not accept your motion okay that's fine with me next on our agenda we have the public comments so we're going to have some awkward pause here allowing for some time for anyone that has comment on tonight's agenda to please email key we heard from anybody we have I have not looks like we got 18 18 viewers watching right now remind everyone who is just tuning in that if you have any comment about any items on tonight's agenda that you please email your name along with your
004comments - Kathleen Gunther that's Kathleen with a ke jenthor is GE n th NER at Dartmouth schools oor G and we we don't comment or respond to any public comment we just take comments under advisement for our own knowledge in our deliberation so feel free we'll give it a few more minutes a couple more minutes in case email is in the description if you're watching the live feed you can find her email did you see one excuse me we did receive an email from Renee Vieira did the school committee have any input okay can you hear me yes sir yes did the school committee have any input in the remote learning plan was that heard so madam Jeremy might want to note that the superintendent is we don't respond to comments even though it was
005a question right but we are gonna be talking I think about that superintendent will be updating us on that later so it's not that boring it's just we don't respond to comments during those yeah that'll come up later on Thank You Renee have there been any new emails I suspect no I did receive an email from an individual who did forward a query or or something to do with the last day of school miss Brooks she's asking if that would be shared during public comment I just received this from Miss Brooks so I just bring that to your attention a couple of other emails that I had received prior to today concerning that that matter so which was forwarded to you Kathleen if you call yes yep I received I think we all received them
006if mister is Miss Brooks asking that her letter be read during public comment is that your the she writes would my email be shared during public comment okay I don't know if you want to interpret that as if it could be read that is a way to interpret that I can find it I don't know if you have that email handy I can find it I wouldn't mind if it be read go ahead I hear somebody John yeah we've got I mean under new business we have the last day of school as an agenda item so we can always talk about Miss Brooks is letter at that time I believe I I'm fine with that as well what is the committee what is the pleasure of the committee so I mean we're just waiting right
007now so I don't think maybe there's any harm and just reading her letter right okay we'll kill like another two minutes and then email and then that also makes part of sort of the minutes in the official public record so rather than us all sitting here and looking at our screens we could maybe read it to do Kate would you be able to read that part to us of course thank dear members of the Dartmouth School Committee I write to you in consideration of the discussion of agenda item last day of school 2019 2020 well none of us can predict the actions of the governor the Department of elementary and secondary education and or the curve of this virus I want to plead my case to push the last day of school to Friday June
00819th I realize that even if you agree to the 19th it is possible that the above-mentioned factors could invalidate the decision due to continued health risks however the longer the potential year the more opportunities we have to return to school even for a few weeks as you are aware I will retire at the end of this school year and so selfishly I would like to have closure however I do feel that our students would also benefit from the return to school I can think of reasons for every grade level to reconnect with the teachers and classmates in order to reset some level of normalcy into their life no matter how we have offered a sense of structure and opportunities for learning reached out to connect with our most vulnerable students provided resources meals and technology
009as well as engaged via a variety of platforms we have not and cannot replicate the human connections we had taken for granted prior to this unprecedented event it is also possible that the corona virus could reappear in the fall if we are able to week with our students prior to a summer break have the opportunity to build another resiliency skill set which we may need to expand upon in the fall or sadly at any given time in the future this experience to date has put so many things into perspective for all of us I feel that we are all changed because of it hopefully changed for the better thank you for your consideration from a distance heidi silver Brooks thank you madam chair yeah my concern is there were other folks that also sent emails
010and so I'm not sure if Miss jenthor has those stored I know I only saw about two more I believe I did respond to one parent letting her know the discussion would be taking place of corn she was concerned of course the year-round activities having a senior in high so I'm just a little concerned but I will be providing the committee updates on the survey etc during the calendar time so yeah thank you mm-hmm I think we can bring those up during that discussion too I think Heidi was resending her you know my understanding it sounded like she wanted that read specifically during yeah I would agree with that Kathleen anything else Kate I responded no need to read email from Heidi stating that it wasn't necessary it was a time fella okay what time
011are we at now we're at 6:43 thank you and there is another email from okay can you hear me yeah now we didn't hear who it was from can you hear me yes from Renee Vieira it goes on to speak about end of the year Oh rather vacation week which I guess would affect the end of the year I don't know if that's something that you want to be read now is that yes Kathleen yeah I would say yes I would say yes - okay very good I will do that is Vieira writes I understand the idea of trying to keep the momentum with students going I also know that the way we are doing our jobs and the way we are asking students to learn is overwhelming in many ways I strongly feel that
012we need to follow the holidays in the calendar we all could use a long weekend to catch our breaths next week families who celebrate Easter will not be able to attend church and celebrate with family everyone students families staff administration really could use a short break from the educational responsibilities aspect of this crisis the government health officials are telling us daily that this area will be hit hard in a little less than two weeks just before the April vacation as this situation reaches higher levels locally we all might need to simplify the daily expectations and focus on family the DEA held a board meeting yesterday and and concern was the fact that the days do not end folks are working on lessons answering emails creating tutorials learning new technologies well into the evenings this is
013especially true for those with school-aged children that need their parents guidance technology during the day when asked the question about Good Friday and April vacation week it was unanimous that these holidays be recognized everyone needs to unplug for a little while without guilt Renee Vieira so we are at 6:46 I I don't know how if the committee agrees I feel it might be a good time to close public comment okay so okay so we're gonna move on to the next order of business which is under old business I would like to turn it over to mr. Kylie who if you could please give us an update as it relates to the budget I know here we have fiscal year budget and vote but I just want to hear an update and then hear from the
014committee as to how we should best proceed thank you mrs. amber also we originally you know had this agenda item on tonight to vote on the budget we've had some discussion internally and with a couple of school committee members about whether or not it makes any sense to vote this evening I think that there's a lot of uncertainty and a lot of a lot of things that are still developing and I wouldn't recommend moving forward with a vote tonight I did have a meeting this afternoon with mr. McGinnis and mr. Barnes the assumed and had some discussion about next year's budget but I just don't see any benefit of moving forward and voting and defining a number tonight does this given all the uncertainty to you and also to my colleagues mr. kylie is at
015some point in time I realized at the moment we don't know what we have for a town meeting date but somewhere down the line we're gonna have to get a number to the Finance Committee I know I guess they're doing as is every other board throughout the Commonwealth doing what we're doing and that is you know meeting remotely but I'm gonna make an assumption that at some point in time we have to get a number two to Town Hall so I'm just wondering if at our next meeting which is the 27th we just vote on the budget that borrowing something radical that changes between now and then we go forward with the budget that we have that's my time sir thank you John so anybody else have any comment okay thank you madam chair so
016you know I'm I'm trying to be a realist here and I know well you know we're supposed to vote in the budget tonight and I also know there's a lot of uncertainty on that being said mr. Kylie has have you gotten any indication from Town Hall that our funding for next year whether it's chapter 70 local receipts or anything like that there's the to be affected well they are preparing preliminary estimates based on reductions in the receipts and state aid so those two areas I would I would think and I think they believe are the two most volatile components of the equation so they are preparing estimates with some reduction of course how how much the reductions gonna be we're not gonna know for a very long time so I don't think that that is
017actually going to be particularly helpful in shaping this because as mr. noon said and he has a good point sooner or later we're gonna have to just move forward agreed so you know we're never gonna have all the answers I I'd like to have more answers and I don't see a big risk in waiting a couple of weeks at this point in the hopes that maybe there are some more answers okay no thank you yeah I'm on board with waiting dr. Jenkins thank you um you know I just may seem out of order but I feel like it's the time to talk about it I want to go back I was reading the minutes so we got a public comment last time about working fees yeah because we're talking about budget I think we don't
018respond but I do the student you send us an email so I do want to sort of address those concerns you know one I believe the busing we provide busing free cards for high schoolers right so just like all of the other schools they have the option for free transportation the reason why we don't charge parking fees at other schools is because none of the other students are old enough to drive so there's no parking streets at other schools because there are no student drivers so we're treating off - Drive we're treating off students consistently by offering them all free transportation right but then for the extra parking that we need because because the drivers at that school that's what those fees support I think ideally we might want to not have those sorts of
019fees we do recognize it's a burden but our budget just simply um can't support it at this time and so driving really is a privilege because we are providing that free transportation I just wanted to address that in the context of discussion because I do want people to know when they provide public comment you know that we do hear them and particularly it seemed like it was coming from students I'm not sure about that but I definitely want to respond to those comments and then the other thing that I will say is that I'm in agreement with my colleagues about we I mean we just have no idea the state restarted there but the process I think this week Governor Baker did a trip someone asked him and he said I don't know yeah I
020mean I think he literally said no idea so who knows if we'll have any more certainty or any more information but I mean I think we all know it's gonna be bad it's all so we got to try to see if we can figure some things out doing now and then so I'm a bored with waiting I am also I mean the more information we have the better it is and I agree with dr. Jenkins about the parking at this point in time where we don't even know what we're gonna have a budget that's a time really to cut back on fees even though we wish we could yeah thank you for bringing that up Shannon um I was that was gonna be Mike on my question my comment to me because it is a
021student so it is important that we follow up because it's encouraging to see students speaking up and advocating for things that that they see as you know what worth changing at some point but agreed to you we're kind of in a you know a bad place with the budget and so it's not looking good pandemic or not so yeah I would too now with with this does it require sort of a vote to table it or is it just that no I think just the inaction is sufficient this 20 and will I agree with mr. Newton point that we should plan on moving forward probably at the next meeting on some recommendation okay yes John yeah just so follow up on dr. Jenkins common I mean this committee and a few years ago and I'm
022not sure no disrespect the advantage of being old brown from but this committee did reduce the student parking fee a number of years ago yes you know was one of the student reps that we had at the time that brought it to the committee and he he my memory is any good you know laid out some some good discussion good topics type of deal and we took it under advisement and we did reduce the fee down so you know we have listened but again you know I go back to a lot of years ago when there was you know proposition two and a half over right and the school was included along with everything from the town and one of the things that if the override didn't pass we're gonna be Student Activity fees etc
023etc and lo and behold guess where we are yeah so if I could just just explains Oh Oh Jim way away sometimes his internet cuts out he'll make Nana if I'll just fill in for a second I just want to meet Ria's I just want to make note that mr. Tebow did meet with that particular student so I'm - dr. Jenkins point you know we do try to respond and and let kids know that we're listening but ya did meet with that student and explained what the fees are used for and shared a survey that we had from area districts and you know we are very low with the fees that we ask for compared and we would love to keep it that way as best as possible but I'm sure I miss mr. Kyle
024II will explain what we use it for I'm sure that's what he was gonna do um I just wanna know of that that the student did have a meeting with mr. Tebow and I think he understood after the fact of why we were collecting the fees so so before I before I get booted off again here I say exactly what dr. Gifford just shared with you and is that mr. Tebow and mr. Martin but met with the student who had that public comment and did share that information and mr. Nunes is correct we went back I want to say it might be eight years ago now we went from a hundred dollars down to sixty dollars per year and that was through working with some students group of students had brought that to our level
025and I had met with them and made a recommendation to the school committee at that time to reduce the fees but it's true we really don't have the budget in order to eliminate all fees and I would love to eliminate all fees for everything but I don't think that that's something that is gonna be something that we could do in the near future unfortunately so we do use it to maintain the parking lot which needs a significant amount of maintenance and I can't see any other way to you know to finance that at this time thank you yes I think you munis thank you muted I may have brought that up a couple of meetings ago or a couple of months ago about the the parking fees and I'm gonna take a a mr. Nunes
026point of view I have a philosophical issue with charging students to park their cars to the high school however that being said I I do agree with my colleagues at this point in time we're in no shape to be looking at reducing fees when we're dealing with the type of budget we are but I do I personally I don't think we should be charged specifically parking fees to park a car there that's all that's my two cents thank you so with that I think the consensus has is the table this at least look you know wait a few weeks see if there are any updates and and then discuss again okay okay okay so now we're on to new business and the first thing on our list here is to discuss the last day of
027school for this school year so dr. Gifford could you let us know where we are with that as far as the great sure sure so right now if we did nothing and continued on with the April vacation as planned we would be releasing on June 29th if we did not go forward with a provocation and use those four days as learning days we would be released on June 15th so with that said I just want you to know that across the state numerous districts have shared what they're doing and it is all over the place people have various reasons and we can see both sides I'm sure right we'll give you some money June 29 you mean June 8 19 did I say the 29th I wanted them to keep coming I'm sorry that would
028scare everyone I have no idea why I said that but anyway the 19th or the 15th so those days we're looking at and I'm the only thing and I know the committee did get a couple of me I only saw two or three emails which we've already discussed I think all two or three were at least two were from parents that advocated to keep April vacation the only other thing I will say is that we did send a survey out to the staff we had 410 responses to this point and 70 about 74 percent voted that they would like to cancel April vacation wanting to they feel that they've got the momentum going and and they want to keep it going with their students and not disrupt that for the neck for those four days
029and of course that leaves if I can see about 26% that would like to keep April vacation so you know again their senses and again there's two sides it's either take that break people have been on high energy and really working hard to get things in order and create a pattern and momentum for students and they need a break or we want to keep that momentum going so that's that's what we have for information right now okay can I ask before I turn it over to the committee cuz I want to hear their thoughts everyone's thoughts how does that impact and I'm not talking about activities top the senior class would that change there anything regarding their last day exam you know if we if we go back I know everything is so up in
030the air the only thing I can say about the senior class and and obviously we could talk more about it during our remote learning planned time but my student my update but it's a good time for that we have had aside from everything conversations with the high school admin team who are also discussing obviously always with their lead teacher team but plans are in motion to ensure that the senior class gets something for everything I mean whether it goes way into the summer if it's you know they don't want to do things virtually who wants a virtual prom I'm being a virtual graduation so we're hoping that some of this gets back in order at least towards the summer and we can offer them and provide for them and and give them all the activities
031that they want so I I wouldn't worry so much about the exact end date for academics just waiting to hear what the governor is gonna declare I'm hoping soon one way or another so that we can make those definite plans but I just want to assure folks that we are in those conversations the high school admin team is deep into that conversation of determining what its gonna offer for our seniors and that's really paramount paramount it's it's high on our priority list thank you um who would like to comment just to go back to Renee's email that Kate read she mentioned something maybe I misunderstood she mentioned something about not having good Friday off and having the weekend could we clarify that dr. Gifford yes we I actually answered her question about that already on
032a meeting I think Thursday or Friday can't even remember to tell you the honest truth but assured her we are not thinking about Good Friday at all that's already in it's already in so we are only talking about the four days during April vacation after is it Presidents Day the Monday - it's dr. Jenkins so I mean I guess you know that we're closed for April vacation so that's really what this is a question about right do we do we have so we have to make a decision tonight because it's it's we're not gonna be open before April vacation that's what it comes down to yeah unless we call an emergency meeting you know and we want folks to have an idea of what's happening so we can always do that people want to think
033about it I'm just I'm just personally torn about this because you have survey data saying you know people want to keep going but then you know Heidi and Renee have told us you know these committee and Union and others they definitely don't but I just don't personally really know right now I don't know maybe before April vacation so it kind of feels like we need to make a decision tonight I hear what my fellow committee members think I don't know we'd like to go now John good well I'd sent you guys an email this morning and it's following up on some stuff personally I think two things number one we don't know where this is headed and we have no idea what the governor or the President or anybody Department of Education is going to
034do as we get closer to May 4th they're talking about this thing blowing up in the next couple of weeks and if it does you've got your two-week warranty and all that other good stuff forget made fourth as a return date to school personal opinion these are only my opinion so anybody gets mad and get mad at me because these are my two cents my personal thought is that we're not gonna get back into a classroom till around the 18th of May again the two weeks brings us somewhere around the 24th or so of April and then you know two weeks after that it basically brings you to May 18th my thought is you know we keep going through April vacation and unfortunately keep school in session until somewhere around the 24th or 25th of
035June and that includes all students and I'm sorry for the seniors but I think we've got to try and give everyone as much educational opportunities once we get back into the classroom as we can this is a little bit of a different time this is a little bit of you know uncharted territory across the border we've all talked about it but you know extraordinary times call for extraordinary circumstances and my personal opinion it is that would go through April vacation we have good Friday off excuse me we have patriots day I've got no issues with those and go through to somewhere around the 24th 25th all students to give them as much much education and as planned I mean nobody's going anywhere on vacation today you know you can't travel you know if you were
036going to if you would make plans to go to Disney or go on a cruise able vacation those aren't happening or at least you know Disney's around many cruise ships going out etc etc nothing's open so you know just just you know keep on with the education as much as we can yes it offends the school year a little bit it gives us you know it's just a couple of weeks the before summer vacation stats in it sorry mr. Riley it cuts down on the maintenance having a couple of extra weeks to get things done but I'm kind of thinking you know right now what's best for our students that's me I'm Carol I'm just wondering it you can't could you really do something like that I mean you have to look at the contract
037I was going to be my question that's again that's my thoughts I got you all right that's in the back of my mind too but I'm putting it out there I'm trying I could go either way one of the only things one of the things that was said that made me think I was thinking first of all you know folks fruitcake people vacation to get out earlier but then the whole idea of extending the year a little bit so that students could get back in into their classroom the seniors could get into they're seeing a week and whatever it is they do is an appealing piece of that and then you have miss dr. Sheppard saying they're gonna try to replicate all the things they would have had him you know they had the opportunity
038so I'm not much help here but you're like the pump I had a couple out of hands array that Chris did and then then dr. Jenkins as well Chris oh so I I'm gonna have to agree with whoever spoken so far I'm kind of torn myself I'm leaning I am leaning more towards cancelling April vacation though continuing the momentum has built up in people getting into a routine here really at the end of the day we're talking about four days and you know I have my own thoughts about when school will be back in session I'll keep those to myself but I think I'm leaning more towards and I think that'll be my stance that we can't delay provocation and we have the good Friday off we have Patriots day off and we continue continue
039through those four days and I agree and I hope that the DHS admin team will do everything in their powers to make sure that our seniors are sent off with a UH a big celebration one way or the other I mean I guess I have one question I know when Baker originally closed the schools he made a statement that we would not extend the school year beyond the last scheduled day four so I haven't stayed like all the regulations are coming like you know what I mean I'm sure you guys are all dealing with that and I'm just curious that again to mr. Nunes point if governors Baker's declaration still stands that we will not be extending the school year beyond that last snow day that that actually came from the commissioner we would not
040be held to hold it beyond the 185th day however we also have information that that is still a local decision okay many can decide to extend that date so I guess I would say personally I am I'm inclined to honor the April vacation I think there's a lot of parents who are trying to manage working from home keeping their families safe you know monitoring and supervising their kids education and I think lots of families could use a break not just often teachers I think there's a lot of families and as we pointed out that caseloads are supposed to peak around mid-april I think we're seeing a lot more families that are impacted and that are ill and that are dealing with that so I'm flying to continue with April vacation and then just go to
041the 19th you know in the summer I think people do have plants that they hope that they might be able to honor and I know in the past we don't have any plans but I know in the past we've looked very carefully when that last know day is and I've scheduled vacations for my after that so there is I think potential to have a negative and particularly after being cooped up for two months like if you have a vacation scheduled through June 21st I don't think anything that's gonna stop people from going on that big yeah I thought I'd be inclined to do the I think we're all all over the board but I would be inclined to honor that April everyone a little rest and then go ahead and set it at the 19
042anyone else I don't know where we stand with this so I came into this thinking that I was leaning toward you know I was leaning towards working through April vacation you know I have a senior in my ear like not wanting to look back but that's a whole other story you know I I know this is just such a you know an oppressor dented time to keep hearing that this is just we've never gone through this so it's you know I think that however we we you know vote to keep or not I mean we're we're just doing the best we can here but I do agree you know some of the things that were said you like 74 percent of the staff wants to continue so that's that's huge for me 74 percent of
043those were you know asking to kind of figure all this out and support our kids seventy-four percent just say get it over with do it but then you hear those points we had a few people email as dr. Gifford said in support of you know going on to the 19th and I hear you John with the learning and just making the most of it you know I get it but I don't I don't know about keeping anybody school much longer than such a trying time I am leaning towards that relaxation for that week and going till the 19th personally you know I tend not to think about my own situation I try to kind of think of everyone else we all do try to think of the data from that survey but something Shannon just
044said it really feels like an opportunity to just give ourselves a break we don't know what our health and wellness is going to be at that point in time we don't know the impact that you know the social emotional impact that any of what's to come in the next couple weeks we'll have on on our families in our community so I'm leaning towards taking that vacation they didn't come in here thinking that all of my research and thoughts were you know let's just work through and let's end on this on the 15th but as I stand right now I think I'm leaning toward taking that break I'm in that break so I don't know where that elite leaves all of us here Chris if I could just add madam chair I actually I've been thinking
045was well you've been talking I've been thinking about what you've been saying in as well as dr. Jenkins and I'm thinking you know I'm trying to put my parent hat on I have two students here one's a senior and trying to understand right even with school in session right now there's still a lot of lot of downtime that the students have and if we're going to give four weeks four days off for for April vacation everything's closed the beaches are closed you can't even go to horse neck Beach anymore I tried in the parking lots closed the parks are closed we're we really can't do anything other than stay in the house or go for a walk in the around block or you know locally so I still think I stay with my position but
046because I tried to put myself into your persuade into what dr. Jenkins said what you said missus am are all and I just can't because there's already such a limited amount of opportunities for our students right now that I think the best place for them is in schools where where are we so John make a motion that schools forego April vacation for those four days and have the virtual learning gases ongoing at the moment I'll second that just so what I'm saying is we go through forget April vacation we're going straight through and ending on the 15th well I didn't say that in that survey it's my understanding the teachers were requesting to go through the April vacation but renamed was requesting not to go through the April vacation okay yeah we had 410 responses
047to the survey Jim was it three yeah yeah about 320 yeah but this one you know TAS as well etcetera all right so you've got a good group that yeah it's at the serving yeah I was surprised for 10 responses I'm gonna have to go along with it with their responses then okay so we do have a motion on the table for that we have a second correct yes I second it so any further discussion doctor you didn't so I just want to note that right give us are approaching this those of us that still have children are approaching this as as parents of children who are somewhat self-directed I mean you know we still have to manage them but they do their own I'm hearing from a lot of my colleagues who have small
048children how exceedingly difficult it is to manage their own day of work and the schooling because they're not teaching but that's six-year-old a seven-year-old requires sort of really a lot of intense supervision to do the work and those are the sort of people that I'm really concerned about that and I know it's good for young kids to have routine I've just seen a lot of parents are just overwhelmed and this is what some of our teachers are finding to that Rene was talking about right because you have to spend the morning or the day directing your kids that then your own work is happening at night and so I got sort of where I'm coming from is thinking of some of the parents of little kids who have to try to work at home and
049manage 6 7 you know five four-year-olds it can be a lot so that's sort of I think why I always think you on that way it's just what I'm seeing in my limited sample of parents of small kids that's all I was thinking about it I think you make a good point you know it's just weighing and balancing which is the best way to go I honestly didn't think this would be this difficult I know I know you know there's no black or white answer each answer is reasonable we have a motion on the table I just I just for clarification purposes we have a motion and we have a second but can we vote on that motion without an end date or do we have to we can we can make it mister news
050I expect is going to make a second motion about the end date those do this is be taken separately yes okay dr. Jenkins uy correct okay so we have a motion on the table unless it's for the discussion I know we've kind of belabor this so there's a motion for mr. Nunes on the table that we and oh my gosh yes we cancel no go work cancel April vacation vacation and you and we have a Secretary's learning learning and we have a second by mr. Oliver and so without further discussion I bring it to a vote and all in favor aye okay opposed okay so motion passes three to two like that I mean I could go either way but he made some good points tonight that made me think okay the discussion yeah really
051good discussion and I mean like you haven't gone through this before and anything that we do we have to kind of give ourselves a little bit of a break and know that we're just doing the best we can right that's why we get the big bucks yeah all right so now go ahead do you want a motion on the last day of school I could give it a you want to just I would I would recommend that we wait to see if another edict comes down and after me whether we're gonna be closed after May 4th and we can talk about that all right so we can hold off on that when til the 27th yeah I'm gonna say was gonna to be determined you know yeah yeah my understanding and we don't know we
052don't know you know we get 13 other states that called it for the year already and being locally you know controlled my understanding is we won't hear much until the end of April dr. Jenkins so I would just I mean I think talking amongst ourselves we're all sitting here trying to figure out we know what teachers and staff want it might be useful in interim to recommend to anyone who's watching this right now or on YouTube and to share their thoughts with us you know interested hearing what families think about sort of the undie and so they're welcome to share their thoughts with us because I think that might help inform our decision about the end date I mean again we still get more information but I would like to hear what people are thinking
053about it agreed fine with me yeah always always welcome anyone and put on matters that we discussed okay I don't get emails from the town so I still distilled what's there but they can get a little angry yeah okay so next on our new business is our proposed School Committee schedule of meetings so dr. Gifford I'll turn it over to you if you could sure oh there they are our next meeting is April 27th we've scheduled to May 18th and we're also scheduled for June 22nd I would recommend right now that we it's such a topsy turvy time that we don't even think about July and August yet because I'm thinking that with the budgeting the town meetings all of that that we're gonna have we might have to interject other meetings in but the
054budget etc so I would basically I would table even thinking about trying to schedule a July that's what we were trying to do with scheduled July in August but with with everything going on I would just suggest that we hold off and again any emergency meetings or if we know if we have updates about budgets budgeting or town meetings etc we can um call a meeting as necessary that's my recommendation okay dr. dingen I would agree at some point as sad as we will be to see her go doc they will let dr parra foetus leave at some point right at some point have a new member of the school committee dad I'm not see care will go but we would want to consult with that new member of the school about what works you
055may have to change some of the aim of the ones we already have scheduled be honest right right or add to it or add to it and whatever you like any that's good with me so let's just table that no disrespect will you be sitting here next year and dr. carrier for this could still be on happy that you're staying with us yeah I enjoy the company all right thanks so next is I'll turn it back over to you dr. Gifford for your superintendents update got lots of updates I know yeah there's so much to talk about but thank goodness you've been receiving updates as we go along through this very challenging time so I'm just gonna go over the remote learning plan that we have presented to our staff well actually I know the
056high school had a staff meeting which I was at this morning to talk about it we sent it out to all of the staff and each building will be having meeting to discuss the plan itself the plan substance can much from what we were already asking folks to do three weeks ago or whatever it was when this all started we continued our extended learning page offer enrichment activities we've added continue to add tabs to that with technology updates technology resources technology tools and trainings I know I'm hearing a little feedback so I don't know but my special education tab will continue most recently we added an activities tab which we've asked folks to send us examples of the work that students are doing through the remote learning whether it's a little video clip I know
057mr. Perotti students have been sending all kinds of things they're amazing the work they continue to do and we put that up we put pictures of student work etc just to give folks a sense of what's happening that we are continuing to it offer our kids learning so I just want to go over the remote learning plan a little bit and to remind folks where we are that we are in a pandemic and we are in a situation where families are in crisis we have folks financially perhaps muttering maybe people are getting sick etc this ain't no ordinary time and we can't say that enough so the plan was built upon as you all know which you've been receiving updates regularly that we've been attending numerous meetings from Dessie the commissioner superintendent's Association our legal
058team etc Russell Johnston from deci with the special education updates it never ends of all the guidance we get so when we started to build the plan which was pretty much everyone doing it across the state we involved the admin all central office started building it over a week process we invited building admin to continue to provide us feedback we had a shared document all of that went on we sent draft versions out to Union President and vice-president three times to offer advice feedback etc we then had a meeting excuse me I'm still coughing I had a meeting with the whole we called ELT just leadership team which includes all building as well as central office on the final which we kind of assumed would be our final version with president and vice president of
059the Union as well we had a zoo meeting to again discuss the highlights of the plan any issues etc based on that we then sent the plan out to as I said the staff this weekend and folks are holding meetings this week so the plan look what we want to make clear is the plan is not provided to replicate school that's very clear from deci we're not expecting that obviously teachers are sitting seven to two or three in the day holding meetings and and um lessons with kids but what we're trying to do is offer students extended activities enrichment activities deepening their learning revisiting their learning etc and this is all on advice from dusty and what's happening across the state some of the basic principles of our plan are really about teachers creating enrichment
060activities that they're interested in that supports student choice and agency that provide enrichment and and differentiation deepening learning refining skills collaborating wonderful time for teachers to collaborate and we're asking them to give feedback to students on the the learning that they do and the submission of work some of the guidance from our legal team as well as deci is that you know we're using lots of video conferencing audio conferencing those kinds of things which again we have our tech department working on that and making sure that we're in compliance with all of those platforms I know some of them have been discussed quite extensively our tech team as Chris talks laughs yes our tech team is on that 100% and we are issuing guidance probably tonight if not tomorrow on those kinds of things the
061tech piece one of the things that we're asking folks to do and I'll give some of the highlights of what we're asking teachers to do on a day to day basis we are asking them again with legal conference counsel that they read disclaimers to our families that there is an understanding about expectations of privacy with virtual conferencing etc we're in a different world we know that but we want people to understand and again I've been in contact with a number of especially elementary teachers who are having these virtual conferences with kids parents are one loving it kids are checking in a certain time in the morning having a morning meeting etc so it seems to be working very well the important thing is a bit about any of these virtual conference conferencing platforms is training
062education and making sure that teachers have that which we have been doing our PD sessions with our tech teachers have been outstanding we've had thirty and forty people attending them to make sure that they understand the various nuances how they can keep keep the meetings in control so basically you've read the plan you have the general expectations in general I'll just kind of like a know a big balcony overview or asking people to check their email twice at least twice a day or asking that they respond to parents within 24 hours if it's a an email if they're on and we're only asking this during work time now on the weekends at cetera we understand that we're asking them to hold at least two kind of meetings what it with their students per week whatever
063it might be we're asking that obviously there are other folks involved like secretaries etc I'm just laughing I have someone texting me to share a broccoli casserole can you believe that in the world of technology I'm sorry I thought that was funny so teachers are being asked to create 300 min lessons a week three and post them at various times mind you these lessons are done in collaboration with their teammates their content area specialist with that grade-level team so for example a grade 3 team across the district potter school might choose to do the english lessons 3 a week Quinn might choose to do the math but they're collaborating so it's three lessons for a week we had and again the lessons are focused on deepening skills really refining giving kids enrichment to do that
064special education has been an ongoing discussion as we continue to receive updates from Russell Johnston to deci and our legal counsel as well we are still trying of course to always offer the best support we can to all of our students our special education students obviously have IEP s that they have in place what we are advising our teachers to do is to look at the IEP s themselves and choose what do they feel this student needs the most to diminish the gaps to decrease the amount of regression that that student might experience so a teacher might decide this student particularly needs really a lot of work on there I'll just make this up of course developing their law their interest in math and their math skills in whatever standards they choose we are asking
065the special needs teachers to contact parents excuse me to also ask the parent what they think what do you think your child needs at this time based on that conversation and what the teacher believes is the most important thing they make we've given them a template which has three areas they just write what they are going to prioritize for that this length of time this is an extraordinary time this is not following the IEP 100% we cannot do that obviously but we want to offer that child the best that we can so the teacher will then with it's being called another remote learning plan for each student what that focus will be for that special ed student this will be in concert with the related service provider such as an OT or a PT or
066an esse a speech-language pathologists we've met with all of these people laurie Jodoin has done outstanding work in that area to explain all of this to them we are suggesting they can offer a video clip of a strategy that the they can use at home that they can replay on something that they're learning about etc we have asked our classroom teachers to have Google all of our teachers are using Google classroom and our specialists will be having links such as a PE of special ed teachers links to those classrooms you don't want to overwhelm parents as well with a million various Google classrooms so those services will be done I'm trying to think what else I've got here basic basic basic big view student support teams are continuing to me - as well as our
067school counseling department as you know they are holding office hours for example I know the high school is 8 to 11 every day people are asking to be able to be available to students whether it's through phone or email or whatever it might be we are also asking that our TAS collaborate with their classroom teachers or other teachers that they're assigned to with by the building principle we put in in case a teacher may not be connected to a particular particular teacher mm-hmm let's see I'm looking at more of my notes here we want to make sure that people understand grading is not going to be in the traditional sense but each school is working out how that's happening I believe you got the high school plan which is allowed which is very very well
068thought out and is allowing for students Student Success student success and we can talk more about that our technology department has been were of course to make sure that everyone has enough devices as mr. Oliver mentioned before about Chromebook dissemination we've continued to do that just looking at any more notes we've talked about special ed department the TAS the teachers themselves that's kind of the over a big balcony overview we did as I said put the remote planning out today our principals are also other than the staff meeting that they're holding to give general overview they're also going to be asking meeting with their individual content areas or CPT teams to answer specific questions and help people through it but I want to say also that for the last three weeks or so this is
069the basic plan that our teachers have been following we the contact with students the posting of the three lessons per content area etc the PE is on board there and the music and and art they're all collaborating to offer these lessons through the Google classroom and I really want to emphasize that the tech department has been working really hard to make sure that the platforms that we're using again we're emphasizing Google classroom but all the other platforms are consistent with our policies and our principles and that teachers have enough training to be able to implement them efficiently and without any what's the word I'm looking for that people don't get to ruin the Google classroom if you will all the zoom classroom so that's kind of the giant highlight dr. Duncan oh oh no I'm
070here I had asked during public comment about sort of whether we had input and from my perspective right thought about that School Committee the charge of the school committee is fairly clear right we you know vote a policy me hire and fire the superintendent but we don't direct sort of day-to-day operations and learning because we're not experts in that that having been said you know we got to see the the learning plan and I will commend the administration because I had a number of questions as a school committee merit member and also a parent and everyone is very responsive sort of clarifying those things to us and I think after having learned about this I think you know there it's clear there's been a lot of work and I think it's great you know my
071concern as as a parent of a high schooler and we dealt with this with our college students right here I've been teaching for about 15 20 years at UMass Dartmouth it stinks for me that I'm losing you know part of a semester but my students are only there for four years so it's really that much bigger for them when they're missing out on a significant portion of the limited time they have there and my deep concern which I think dr. Burton and mr. Tebow have addressed this is great is that even though I know mr. Tebow will say this that everyone says this is about learning I mean to be blunt right GPA is really important for our high school kids right it determines what sorts of colleges that they will be able to go
072to and so my concern had been that by missing right you know in first one month now another month right that were shortening the runway for those kids who are struggling to be able to incorporate thank you this plan is explained to me which i think is great and i students be able to go back and relearn materials and and resubmit some of that work to potentially dig themselves out of some holes that they have gotten in to improve their grade now I know from personal experience at UMass Dartmouth some people will complain about this right and they'll say oh it's not you know kids you didn't do well get to go back but again I want to draw the point - these kids are missing out of a limit in a window of time
073that they are in school and that they have to demonstrate their ability so I'm really happy that we've developed a plan to make sure I think the biggest thing we have to be concerned about is making sure that students are not harmed about what we do there some of my colleagues and we have this discussion at UMass said well maybe then some students will unjustly benefit they might I'm not I'm not concerned about that right now I am much more deeply concerned about preventing harms to students who are not going to have the chance to improve and I think this learning plan has incorporated into it the ability for students to improve and to get better and so I'm you know I deeply commend everyone in the district who's been involved I think I think
074it's really great thank you dr. Kerr Florida well I agree I was reading this and doing my highlighting as I went through it use me I have a question though I know that in any classroom you're gonna have several children that are at risk you know my my experience has always been at the elementary level and I don't know how we're going to be able to keep a safety net underneath them because first of all I don't know how much the parents are going to be involved in helping them I know from what I've read I'm your friend different things I've heard about the teachers some of them are putting going above and beyond to make sure that connected to their students I'm just concerned about those youngsters that are always there's always a group
075in every classroom almost that's at risk and they're always trying to put in that extra support for them so I'm concerned about how that's working I don't know if you have any other insight and how are the the you know the remedial piece going I know we do a lot of inclusion but I don't know like in title one is there I don't even know you still have title I know you have coaches and your have your leaders teaching leaders but how much extra support are those youngsters getting so a couple of things our interventionist math specialist etc do they are providing lessons as well in Richmond activity as well they're connecting to actually the specialists if I recall have will have their own Google classroom so that they're able to reach out to kids
076and offer those little small nuances of strategy so for that aside from that dr. Cara Fortis I can speak to first of all I know that our building principals done an extraordinary job reaching out to those families that they know are really struggling really not have heard from yet even with when we think about giving out devices or providing lunches our building principals have really worked hard to they know their kids they know their right so aside from that we also have the student support team set up for example I know I'm middle and high school faculty has that I know miss Doane is meeting with the student support team constantly those include on nurse Lee each work is a psychologist's the kind of touch base those families and specifically at the high school their
077student support team is really separating those kids that were at risk of perhaps feeling etc making personal contacts with them and we are still running at the high school to flip program that would guidance a program we are offering that online learning the extra learning those kids that needed that extra push so I yeah we're worried about those we've talked about that especially again folks that may not have even answered an email yet or a phone call and folks are really on that but we do have specific practices in place to try to make sure we get to all those kids thank you good job crap yeah muted no I just want to say dr. Gifford I know the amount of time and effort putting that together probably took you your staff and all the
078staff in English in the public schools so you know I thank you for the the time that you put into there and it really reflects the district plan and how we're gonna move forward during this turbulent time so I can't say enough about what your team and a shout out to all the teachers and the public schools for all their all their actions and all their efforts that they put in to really go above and beyond for the most part you know this is something that we've never seen before and I think it it goes a long way with what dominus schools are doing right now especially with this plan that's been put together so thank you we increased our meal program great success and the volunteers that are working to support you know again
079we talked about the academics and the remote learning but we understand that the basic we keep sending this message to dr. dr. Jenkins point we're not leaving any kid behind this is a turbulent time and we are we are going to our staff is going to make sure that you all succeed and also that we're trying to take care of the basic needs families are struggling so that's our basic that's our philosophy dr. Deacon I just want to follow up on the school lunch thing because I've heard from a few people that that families are going to the pick up the lunches for a fun outing with their kids and I judge anyone for picking up you know lunches but I do want to note that these do they do cost us money and you
080know I think mr. Kylie said we don't expect to get reimbursed or you know some of this anyone is welcome to come get us you know food but if you're doing it cuz you think it's fun yeah I know no fun to do with your kids just drive around or something right you want to provide an update sure yeah on Sunday we actually received word that we were eligible we received a waiver from the USDA this it was a statewide waiver for communities that have less than 50 percent free and reduced lunch they'll be eligible for reimbursement so we will be getting some reimbursement from this program that's a that's a good thing obviously the better thing is that we're now serving you know 25 more than 2,500 meals a week so seven seven days
081worth of food per week breakfast and lunch so we're helping a lot of people and that's the important part and we will be getting some money back from the feds I mean the the food service operation as a whole won't be self-sustaining through this period but it's a good good thing for kids yep definitely okay yeah John yeah no just and just to go along with the school lunch and you know living close by I've been by a couple of times and you know they're the people handing out the lunches and the people picking them up you know I've been very very cordial very helpful very friendly and you know it's just good to see that they're you know seriously take people taking advantage of this program and an opportunity to have a meal so
082I commend everybody for what they're doing thank you yeah I I just want to say really you know what Chris said and there's in that hitman just shows my face so to speak review it's really nice you know the effort that has been put in I know I kind of haven't been advocating for lots of things and you know I have a soft spot and a professional responsibility around you know the special education population but I am so proud of the work that we have done and that we continue to do and I have to feed back to what I've been sharing with families if you if you just don't mind indulging me for a moment is that this is a pandemic what we're doing here in Dartmouth is I'm proud to share is is
083of the side I've got some real life stuff going on in my house right now is really great you know we are of the districts doing a really good job and I'm proud of that in the circles that I'm in I just want to reiterate the parents that you know in what we know is fates not free appropriate public education we're not going to get saved we're going to get shape and that we're going to get something and what I want to say to parents if there are any parents that are kind of giving some feedback around struggling believe me I get it I'm in the trenches with you not giving myself too much stress around this but there'll be a time to figure out what's missing but every student special education not special education
084on highest achievers those that access the curriculum with as much ease as you know the top students in our in our district everyone is going to be at risk for regression and so those of us with children that are you know very vulnerable I am certainly you know it's important but not to let that get in the way of working with the district contact the teacher the teacher hasn't contacted you I'm thrilled that to hear about what we're doing on prioritizing the most important or or working with families to find that the priorities are take what you get appreciate it do your best with it teachers give yourself you know some flak we all have to get through this together and so I'm just proud of what we're doing the the statewide you know I
085tell families honestly we're up against federally the potential of removing some of the protections in eye-dea which is the protection for those students with disabilities to receive an education I'm not saying that's going to happen but if parents get in an uproar and start arguing right now about what they're not receiving the federal government if they hear that they're going to say this is too hard like this is not going to work so let's put in we've got about 15 more days before the Secretary of Education submits a recommendation around that and I don't want to see that happen I don't think that that will happen or come to fruition but we need to just take what we get and do our best with it take the data as a family member do your best
086be good to your kids love your family stay healthy stay safe but I'm really proud of all the work that those are my public schools was put in so I know I've given a lot of giving you a lot of feedback on that so I just wanted to acknowledge the what's come to fruition and what's a plan so thank you so I have to say thank you so I think that's really it I don't have any other update that was enough talking for me does anybody else have anything they want to share no with that you know what I do yeah I'm gonna I'm gonna share something that as we are I've been talking here our email inboxes are probably some of you may already be blowing up as well from people that are watching
087this you know I just want to make myself clear that we voted on I'm just going back to the to the cancellation of April vacation we went back to we voted to cancel April vacation yes we did not set a school that's to be determined I don't think that we're trying to deceive anyone myself or any of my colleagues are on this board are not trying to deceive anyone by not voting on a day of school we're just taking it one day at a time I think that's all that mr. Nunes was saying I think maybe he might have been misinterpreted but no that's that's just simply not the case point out since I voted against going away for for brother against canceling April vacation the feedback that we are getting is that the survey
088asked about cancelling April vacation ending on the 15th yes so 75% voted for those things together right and so what people are saying is if you take away April vacation and keep going if we had been asked about that we would not have voted for that personally the I wanted no vacation and the 19th but I think if you ask people should we take away from vacation yeah if we get out the 15th and the numbers would have been definitely definitely I think this is what we're hearing much different if they were given some different options John yeah and I just saw the you know I've got we've gotten I've gotten one email and I'm assuming we all have type of deal and I just you know very quickly looked at it and no yours
089truly is not trying to dodge a bullet and never have but you know at this point in time there may be some things with regards to the ending of school that are going to be out of my hands depending as to what happens and how this plays out over the next few weeks between the governor the legislature Department of Education they may take that last day of school right out of our hands and they irregardless of what we say or do we have to abide by it so that's why we just pushed it off for a couple of weeks that's all we're doing to see what happens in the next couple of weeks doctor calculated I think I might have got the same you know I just want to reassure people that we're not looking
090we're looking to cut the April vacation and get out for four days earlier that's what I am looking at right now that is not what we voted no that's not what we voted not voting we did vote to cancel the vacation we did not vote on the end date oh we didn't vote on the ending right so we still also have a contract with our teachers says to have to honor that something that may we may have to discuss that's right don't under personal rules someone who voted in the affirmative may make a motion to reconsider that vote that would not include miss a morale or myself but any one of the people who have voted to if they are willing up may make a motion and we may reconsider that sea drilling confirmative on
091the vote in order to reconsider make that motion I am dr. Jenkins at this point in time I am good with the motion that was voted on Oh a chance the school year doesn't end on the 15th and the teachers and the students don't get their vacation on the April vacation I have a concern about that right now right now the calendar you voted on was the 19th and then you just voted to take out the for vacation days so you're right on 19th is the ending that's right so the calendar you so that Cal and right now we said we take out the floor vacation it backs up to the 15th that's what's in place right now right only way that could change is if the committee voted to change that calendar you have
092not done that right now I mean mr. Nunes talked about it but the committee has not voted your calendar now says we get out on the 15th so that's what you have in place right now leave it at that no I just want to reiterate and I'm gonna I'm targeting my my argument to Carroll here is that we don't know if we're gonna be back and part of the reason why I wanted to go for the 19th was because to Heidi's point if we get back to go back to school that gives us more face to face days with the kids right say mr. Newton's estimate about when we come back is right we don't know right but let's just plant with it all right we would go for the 18th to the 15th face
093to face if we keep April vacation we go the 18th of the 19th and I really want to maximize the number of potential days that we have kids in that in the classroom in the school that to me is really important will we get that chick I don't know but I want it for all of those kids to be able to have a sense more sense of normalcy and that's why I mentioned the going later okay that's my I'm gonna just try to clarify this one more time first of all it's my understanding that the staff vote of 75% to omit the April vacation with the understanding they would get out those four days earlier yes the question was again my eyeballs here attend school during April vacation and students will be dismissed for summer
094break close of school on Monday June 15th that's what the staff voted on that's correct okay well that's when I'm in agreement with what I hear other people saying now that you could extend the school year well by law locally that is a local decision the state isn't gonna come in and tell you to change that which you have voted now on the 19th we've just voted to back it up to the 15th by canceling so that's what your this committee has voted as of this point in time and yeah it's gonna stay there with that yep Chris thank you madam chair I think I'm gonna stay with my decision with the expectation that it's gonna be the 15th for the simple reason that we don't have money in our budget to continue to pay
095our staff beyond the 180 something days that they're in school so yeah I think it's a moot point at this point I would reconsider my vote and in amend the or go back and with whatever dr. Jenkins said with the procedural piece to just set the end date of the 15th it's already set at the 15th the dr. your first point okay then yes we're all set right for a nap or a drink no okay so without does anybody else have anything else that they wanted to so even our next regular regularly scheduled meeting is for April 27th of course if we need to come together and meet an emergency we will do that but we our next scheduled meeting public meeting is April 27 2020 and with that the chair will entertain a motion
096to adjourn into an executive session to provide an update with respect to collective bargaining with Union personnel not to return into open I moved I can roll call athlean Amaral yeah Carol Carol foetus yes Shannon Jenkins yes Chris Oliver yes John Nunes yes thank you good night everyone thank you thank you okay close out of the